Heaven forbid average
by smaragdbird
Summary: Evan and Teyla are stranded on a Coalition planet, without access to the stargate and hunted by natives. Things get worse from there.


Evan woke up in a small, windowless room but the light from the torches were still enough to make his head hurt so he closed his eyes again. He felt dizzy and nauseous and the first thing he did was roll over on his cot and threw up on the ground. He tried to brace himself against the side of the cot to sit up but his right arm hurt too much and he choked on the pain that was shooting up his arm.

Evan tried again, this time with the left arm and managed to sit up more or less. He still felt dizzy and had problems to keep hold of his thoughts. His brain supplied him with the vague memory of Sheppard telling him to accompany Teyla on a trading mission to Jarvis this morning. At least as far as he knew it had been this morning.

"Teyla?" He asked softly, still not sure where he was. His memory of the things that happened after his breakfast were hazy and came only in fragments. No one answered him. With some effort Evan managed to open his eyes again. The light stung in his eyes and worsened his headache but he held out long enough to see that no one else was with him.

Another memory fragment told him that he had pushed Teyla into a ravine when someone shot at them. Evan let out a small laugh. She would bite his head off the next time they saw each other. She hated it when someone treated her like she wasn't capable of taking care of herself.

Shielding his eyes with his left hand Evan looked down on his right arm. He looked away again and took a deep breath to avoid throwing up again. The sight of his cleaved open arm was a bit too much. Fleetingly he wondered why it didn't hurt more. Maybe they had give him something, he thought while asking himself at the same time who they were. He knew Sheppard had told him the name of the planet they were visiting but he couldn't remember.

He could hear noise upstairs or what he thought was upstairs. Maybe they put him in a tower and-

His body shuddered and he was fighting another wave of nausea when the door opened with a screeching noise that pierced marrow and bone. The tap tap tap that followed wasn't so bad but another door was opened and he lost the fight with his own body. He leaned over, forgot that his right arm was sliced open and gasped for air through the blinding pain.

Suddenly there were gentle, cool hands on his shoulders, steadying him, pulling him back up against the wall. A shadow fell over his face and he dared to open his eyes.

"Teyla." He murmured faintly.

"Evan," Her voice sounded urgent: "Can you hear me?"

"Yes." He felt so tired all of a sudden but he wanted to see her for a few moments longer so he kept his eyes open.

"Can you walk?" before he could make up his mind about it, he heard the sound of cloth being ripped apart: Teyla had used her knife to cut off the rest of his shirt and wrapped the scraps around his open arm. He grinded his teeth together to avoid screaming in pain.

"We can't stay here." She hauled him up by his left arm.

"I can-" Evan began but as soon as both of his feet touched the ground his knees gave in and he had to lean heavily on Teyla. She wrapped his left arm over her shoulders and steadied him with her arm around his waist.

Her loosely tied hair brushed against his cheek while she hauled him up the stairs and he could smell her. Teyla smelled good, he had always thought so. She looked beautiful as well. He should paint her with lots of rich golden colours with all the ferocity and loyalty and-

"That's very nice of you but could you concentrate on walking more?" Teyla asked. She sounded out of breath and Evan felt embarrassed that he had said those things out loud. So instead of looking at the reflections the fire light made on her hair, he kept his eyes firmly on the ground.

Walking was harder than he remembered and his eyelids kept falling shut because he was so tired. On the positive side concentrating on the ground eased his dizziness a bit and made him less nauseous.

The ground underneath his feet changed from stone to woods and then to stone again but not the smooth surface of a man made floor but the rough one of a cave. Teyla let him down as gently as she could.

"Where are we?" Evan asked. His instinct told him that going to sleep while being wounded and in enemy territory was wrong but he was more exhausted than he had ever been in his life. br

"I remembered this cave from a few visits on this planet."

„The next time we go on a trading mission I'll get a small army." Evan gritted out between his teeth when Teyla unwrapped his arm to take a better look at the damaged. She took her knife out again and cut a long stripe out of her skirt to wrap around his arm again.

"The Coalition has made things more difficult for us." Teyla acknowledged.

"Can we make it back to the gate?"

"I believe they have disabled it. At least that was one of the orders that I heard being made." She finished tying the bandage around his arm.

"You should sleep." Teyla said, laying a hand over Evan's eyes. He tried to protest but exhaustion and sleep claimed him before he could even open his mouth.

/

When he woke it was dark outside. Teyla's body was a dark outline against the clouded night sky. Evan felt better, he wasn't as tired as before and his headache had vanished into a dull throb at the side of his head where he had been hit. His arm on the other hand burned as if it had been sat on fire. Waves of intense, hot pain rolled steadily along it.

Teyla must have heard him move because she turned around and vanished into the shadows. He couldn't see her in the darkness of the cave but he could hear her and – smell her. She was close enough that he could feel her warmth on his skin.

"How do you feel?"

"Better." It wasn't a lie, not really.

"What about your arm?"

"It'll be okay. Nothing one of the docs can't fix, right?" He was thankful that she couldn't see his face in the darkness. Teyla could usually read him like an open book.

"How long do you think until Atlantis comes to pick us up?" He tried to say it lightly but wasn't sure if he succeeded. After all he couldn't see her face either.

"I'm not sure how far the next gate is from this planet."

They sat in silence for a while until Evan said: "I know you don't want to hear this but I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

"You didn't drag me into anything." Teyla's voice had a sharp undertone: "It was unfortunate that the Coalition feels so strongly about Atlantis but not your fault."

"Maybe I should wear Athosian clothes the next time we come to a Coalition planet." He said it half jokingly but realised in the same moment as Teyla that that maybe wasn't such a bad idea.

"That could be a good idea, yes." Teyla agreed with him.

"Who looks after Torren by the way?"

"Amelia and Chuck take turns. Chuck is very good with Torren. Almost as good as you." Evan felt his cheeks flare with heat when he heard her compliment. Okay, maybe he had helped Anna a couple times after Matty's and Lucas' father had left her but that shouldn't make him more qualified than Chuck who had more or less raised his dozen or so younger sisters and brothers on his own.

"Thanks." He wondered if one could feel a smile because he had the distinct impression that Teyla was smiling at him in this moment. She was close enough that her hair brushed against his cheek when she moved her head.

"So how do you know this place?"

"I came here with my father when I was younger. Athos and Jareela have a long history of trading with each other."

"And you came to the caves?" Evan asked sceptically. Teyla sounded amused:

"No. I was seeing a boy from this town back then. This cave was quite popular with young couples." She accidentally brushed against his skin when she moved and he recoiled because he hand was ice cold.

"Evan?" She sounded concerned now and put her hand on his forehead. He shivered: "Evan, you're burning. You should have told me."

"I'm sorry." He could hardly tell her that he hadn't noticed the fever because he felt self-conscious around her. He always did, that wasn't something new.

And as if their situation wasn't bad enough, they both could hear crystal clear from outside:

"Search the caves. Maybe they have hidden somewhere around here."

Evan cursed quietly but Teyla already crouched at the entrance of the cave and looked down.

"We can make it if you can walk." He crawled towards her. When he looked outside he was impressed that they had even made it here especially considereing how he had felt earlier.

"I may not be able to keep up with you." Teyla nodded and began to crawl outside.

"I won't leave you behind." She told him. It may have been wishful thinking on Evan's part but he was sure that he heard her adding under her breath: "Torren would never forgive me if I didn't bring you home again."

Following Teyla through the labyrinth of rocks and cliffs was a nightmare. Before everything had been dulled by headache and dizziness but this time every bit was sharp and clear in his mind, especially the pain radiating from his arm. Every now and then something would brush against it, he couldn't avoid that in the small space they were in, and he would bite his lips bloody in an effort not to cry out every time it happened, giving away their position.

At some point during their climbing Evan could hear birds and saw the sun rising or however the people on this planet called their star. He had lost every sense of time and direction. Finally they had stopped on the other side of the mountainside, or at least what felt like the other side. Evan couldn't be sure. The sun had been up for quite some time now.

Teyla made him sit down and looked at his arm in the morning light. She didn't touch it but the sheer proximity of her hand was enough to make him hiss.

"Evan..." She looked up at him but she didn't need to finish her sentence. He had caught a glimpse of the wound, too even though it had brought back the nausea. Atlantis better picked them up soon or he would lose his arm if not more.

Teyla rose to her feet and walked a few steps to rip some berries from a nearby bush.

"You need to eat something." Evan shook his head vehemently. Even without the memory of his wound, the thought of food alone brought back the nausea.

Teyla crouched down next to him. She raised her hand as if she wanted to touch his forehead again but they could hear noises not too far from their position. Evan caught her wrist with his hand before she could touch him.

"Go." He told her intently.

"No."

"Look, they captured me which means they want me alive. You hide until Colonel Sheppard arrives and then you can think about getting me out."

"I will not leave you here." Teyla sounded tense, as if she had to use all of her self-control not to raise her voice.

"You have to think of Torren." Evan tried to argue with her. Teyla needed to leave soon or they would both be caught.

"That's what I'm doing!" She replied furiously and Evan felt like he was missing something because her argument didn't make sense to him at all. He used his grip on her wrist to push her away from him:

"Go!"

She stood still, looking like she was going to argue with him when suddenly both of them heard a very familiar sound and Colonel Sheppard seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Someone ordered a taxi?" He asked.

"John." Teyla sighed in relief. Colonel Sheppard's eyes wandered from her to Evan and he cursed under his breath. Ronon appeared behind him, weapon drawn to cover for them while Cadman, Reed and Parrish slipped out beneath them. Evan had never before been so happy to see his team.

"Do you want me to blow them up?" Cadman asked when Reed and Parrish helped Evan up and into the jumper, Teyla following them.

"Maybe later and only with authorisation." Evan answered. With the eight of them inside the jumper was too small for Evan to lie down but he leaned heavily on Parrish while Reed examined his arm.

"Do you mind if I pass out on you?" He asked, tilting his head up at Parrish.

"Knock yourself out." Parrish grinned.

/

Evan tried to move when he woke up but two strong hands held him down.

"Where do you think you're going, lad?" Carson asked disapprovingly.

"Sorry, Doc." Evan mumbled: "How bad is it?"

"You have only a mild concussion, which is the good part." Carson said to Evan in his sternest voice: "You won't move your arm until I give you permission to move it, is that clear? I know you're usually a reliable lad so you better listen to me and take your antibiotics on time or I will make sure that you are assigned to the Ancient's Linguistic department for the rest of your career. And before you ask, I won't clear you for duty again for the next six weeks. I'm keeping you here until you promise me not to do something that stupid ever again."

"It's my job."

"Technically your job is to make nice with the locals." That was Cadman's voice. Evan opened his eyes to look around. Aside from Carson, Parrish, Cadman and Reed were all sitting near his bed.

"We're not letting you off-world without us ever again." Reed added.

"We got kidnapped together by the Genii, remember?" Evan reminded him.

"That counts as alone. Laura and Dave weren't with us."

"You're really heavy, by the way." Parrish teased him.

"You need to work out more."

"Nah, I'm the scientist remember? It's my privilege not to do any work out." Parrish laughed: "And while we're talking about privilege there's someone else who wants to see you." He stepped aside and let Teyla in. Reed and Parrish stealthily vanished while Cadman said to Carson: "Come on, I believe you have other patients." And winked at him.

Carson gave her a flustered "Aye" and left Evan alone with Teyla.

"Hey," Evan smiled lifting his eyes up to meet Teyla's: "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Teyla reassured him with a smile.

"Good." Evan smiled back. He cleared his throat when the silence between them stretched for too long: "Would it be-"

"How long-" Teyla began in the same moment. They both laughed but looked away for a moment.

"You first." Evan smiled. Teyla nodded:

"How long are you on leave?"

"Six weeks, maybe more. The Doc was pretty upset so I didn't dare to ask." His smile brightened slightly when Teyla touched his arm.

"We were all very concerned about you." She told him warmly: "What did you want to ask me?"

Evan felt his face burn under her gaze.

"I wanted to know if it would be inappropriate to ask you out for dinner?" Evan swallowed heavily. Teyla wasn't just someone, she was his friend, she was his CO's friend and teammate on top of that. He desperately hoped that he hadn't just made a huge mistake. But Teyla's smile widened as well and, curling her fingers around his wrist, she answered: "No, it wouldn't be inappropriate to ask me. Actually I wanted to ask you if you would come with me and Torren to the mainland in three weeks for the feast of the thousand suns."

"Sure." Evan felt his grin splitting his face: "As long as the Doc lets me out until then."

"I believe that Carson will trust me if I assure him that I won't let you overwork yourself at the feast."

Teyla gave him a sly grin. Evan had never seen such an expression on her face before but he definitely liked it.

"That's good to know."

"Oi, that's enough for today." Carson had come back. Teyla rose gracefully from her seat and said her goodbyes to both of them but at the door, she turned around and winked at him before she left.

Evan swallowed his smiled with some effort because he didn't want anyone to question why he was grinning like a fool but mentally counted the days of the next three weeks.

He looked forward to that festival.

A lot.


End file.
